Waukee, Ankeny, and Grimes are three of the fastest growing communities in Iowa, and I see it firsthand every week driving out to new subdivisions that were cornfields a few years ago. Waukee's population grew nearly 46 percent between 2020 and 2025, and Ankeny has ranked among the fastest growing large cities in the entire country in recent census data. Grimes keeps pace right behind them.
New construction brings a specific set of window treatment questions I do not get nearly as often in older parts of the metro. Builder grade blinds, bigger windows, open floor plans, and a closing date that is either weeks away or already behind you all change how I approach the estimate. Here is what I tell new homeowners in these three communities.
The new construction boom on the west and north sides of Des Moines
If you bought new construction in Waukee, Ankeny, or Grimes recently, you are part of one of the biggest growth stories in the Midwest right now. Waukee alone grew from about 23,900 residents in 2020 to nearly 34,900 by 2025, and Ankeny has shown up on national lists as one of the fastest growing large cities in the country. Grimes, Bondurant, Altoona, and Norwalk are all absorbing a share of that same growth.
What that means practically is a steady stream of brand new subdivisions, and brand new subdivisions mean a specific set of homes, bigger windows than older Des Moines neighborhoods typically have, open concept layouts, and almost always the same basic white blinds installed by the builder before you ever walked through the door. I visit a lot of these homes, and the story is nearly always the same.
What builder grade blinds actually are
Builders install window coverings because a bare window does not sell a house, not because that product was chosen for you specifically. Most new construction homes in this area come with basic white faux wood or vinyl mini blinds, sized to a standard opening and installed quickly across every window in the house regardless of the room.
There is nothing wrong with them as a placeholder. They give you privacy on day one and let you get settled before making a bigger decision. But they are rarely custom fit to your actual openings, the slats are usually thinner and more prone to bending than a true custom blind, and the same look repeated in every room of a brand new home rarely matches the finish level buyers expect once they have lived there a few months. Most of my new construction customers replace them within the first year, usually room by room as budget allows.
Bigger windows change what you need
New construction in Waukee, Ankeny, and Grimes tends to run larger windows than what I measure in older Des Moines neighborhoods, especially in great rooms and primary bedrooms designed to show off natural light. Larger openings change the math on window treatments in a few ways.
Wider windows need wider single treatments or a well planned multi panel setup, since a too narrow blind stretched across a big opening never sits right. Taller windows, especially two story great room windows common in a lot of these newer floor plans, often call for motorized shades since a pole or wand is not a realistic way to operate something twelve feet off the ground. And a bigger window lets in more heat and more glare, so I talk to a lot of new construction customers about cellular or solar shades specifically for the temperature swing a big south facing window creates.
Open concept living and privacy
Open concept floor plans are the default in nearly every new Waukee, Ankeny, and Grimes subdivision I work in, and they create a privacy question builder grade blinds were never designed to solve well. When your kitchen, dining, and living room all share sightlines to the same bank of windows, you often want different levels of privacy and light control in different zones of what is technically one open room.
I see a lot of new construction homeowners solve this with layered treatments, a sheer or light filtering shade for daytime privacy that still lets light through, paired with a blackout or room darkening option for evenings, especially on windows facing a neighbor's house or a busier street. It is a more thoughtful approach than what came with the house, and it is one of the more common upgrades I install in these newer neighborhoods.
Getting treatments ordered before or after closing
Custom window treatments take real production time, usually a few weeks from order to install, so timing matters more with new construction than a lot of buyers expect. If you know your closing date in advance, I can often measure from the builder's plans or during a final walkthrough so your custom treatments are close to ready by the time you move in, rather than living with bare or builder grade windows for a month after closing.
If you are past closing already, that is completely normal too. Most of my new construction customers call a few months in, once they have lived in the space and figured out which rooms actually need an upgrade first.
What I see most in new Waukee, Ankeny, and Grimes builds
Great rooms with tall windows usually go motorized first, since that is the room builder grade blinds struggle with most. Primary bedrooms are a close second, typically for blackout shades once new homeowners realize how much a south or east facing window lets in at six in the morning. Kitchens and dining areas tend to go last, once a family has lived with the space long enough to know exactly what they want.
If you just closed on a new build in Waukee, Ankeny, Grimes, or anywhere else in the metro, I am happy to walk through your specific windows and tell you honestly what is worth upgrading first. Request a free in-home estimate or call (515) 850-9700.
Have a question I did not cover? Call (515) 850-9700 or request your free in-home estimate and I will give you a straight answer for your exact windows.